Food briefs for Sept. 6 - 12

"Eden Eats" up San Diego:
Foodie Eden Grinshpan will eat her way through many San Diego restaurants on this week's episode of "Eden Eats," airing at 7 p.m. Sept. 7 on The Cooking Channel. Grinshpan visits cities around the world and tries to sample as much of their regional cuisine as possible in a 24-hour period. On the San Diego episode, Grinshpan visits a Laotian cafe, a Norwegian supper club, a Filipino cafe, Mexican sweet shop and a South African deli.

Snake Oil partners form new firm
: Lucien Conner and Ian Ward, two of the co-founders for Snake Oil Cocktail Co., have sold their interest in the company to Michael Esposito and have formed a new company with mixologist Jen Queen called Pick & Rocks Cocktails. The trio will continue making cocktails for the James Brennan/Brian Malarkey restaurants that include Burlap, Herringbone, Searsucker, Gingham, Gabardine and (soon to open) Searsucker Scottsdale in Arizona.

New chef at Temecula Creek Inn
: Chef David Paul Fune has been hired as the new executive chef at Temecula Creek Inn in Temecula. Previously, the San Diego native cooked at the Hotel del Coronado and Pechanga Resort & Casino. He also operated his own gourmet food truck in L.A. serving "California Coastal Cuisine." Fune said he plans to redefine the menu with a "modern farm and plant-to-plate approach." His new fall dinner menu includes a variety of small plates and entrees including Whole Wheat Penne, California halibut with zucchini, fennel, roasted garlic and citrus yogurt, Jidori chicken, grilled flat iron steak, and lamb chops with Crow's Pass Farm onion-ricotta gnocchi.

Uptown Tavern debuts
: Uptown Tavern has opened at 1236 University Ave. in Hillcrest. Owned by David Cohen and Bobby Jones, the partners behind North Park's West Coast Tavern, Uptown will have the atmosphere of a rustic-chic neighborhood bar with roll-up garage-door windows, indoor and outdoor dining areas, HD televisions and a menu created by executive chef Eli Freebairn. Uptown's bar will have 20 taps for beer and a large selection of vodka drinks and craft cocktails.

Nature's Kitchen debuts:
The former Cafe 21 restaurants in Normal Heights and downtown San Diego have been renamed Nature's Kitchen to reflect a new menu of ingredients entirely sourced from local and organic farms. Chef Leyla Javadov said she spent months sourcing purveyors for her menu, which includes Baklava Crumble Salad, Curry Seared Scallops, Zucchini Cake Skillet, Khan Pilaf, Vegan Sutee and more. Among its suppliers are local Ram's Farm, Sage Mountain Farm, Mary's Free Ranch, TR Natural, Fresh Origins and True Leaf Farms. Later this summer, Nature's Kitchen plans to host a series of "meet the farmer" dinners. Visit cafe-21.com .

Mama's bake sale gears up:
Mama's Kitchen is recruiting bakers for its eighth annual Mama's Pie in the Sky Thanksgiving Bake Sale. Each fall, restaurants, bakeries and caterers volunteer to cook fresh pumpkin, pecan, apple and sugar-free apple pies during Thanksgiving week. The pies are sold to the public for $20 each and proceeds benefit Mama's Kitchen, which provides home-delivered hot meals to San Diegans with AIDS and cancer. Pies go on sale Oct. 1. This year's goal is to sell 6,000 pies, which will raise $125,000 (and pay for 41,000 meals for Mama's clients). For details, visit mamaspies.org or call 619-233-6262.